Do the EU countries isolate themselves in the event of a gas shortage?

Zurich, Brussels The preparations for the emergency when it comes to gas shortages are making little progress. Observers fear a cascade of export bans if a long winter and a lack of deliveries make supplies difficult.

Hungary made the start: The country has banned the sale of natural gas abroad. If the storage stocks of natural gas are used up in winter, other countries could follow suit.

“I hope that gas trading will not collapse then,” says Austrian gas market expert Walter Boltz. “But you can’t really know that.”

What is missing are binding agreements to prevent member states from going into lockdown mode and keeping all the gas with them in the event of a shortage.

Preparations should actually be underway in the capitals to make a chain reaction of export restrictions less likely. Solidarity agreements between countries that trade gas with each other should help. So far, however, Germany has only had agreements with Denmark and, since last December, with Austria.